The Kremlin says criminal charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin will be dropped and none of the Wagner Group fighters will be prosecuted as part of the deal to end the armed mutiny.
News reporter @_chrislockyer
Sunday 25 June 2023 05:36, UK
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The rebel leader of a Russian mercenary group will move to Belarus and have criminal charges against him dropped, the Kremlin has said, after he pulled his fighters back from advancing on Moscow.
Yevgeny Prigozhin had earlier told his troops heading towards the Russian capital to turn back, saying he wants to avoid shedding Russian blood.
His Wagner Group fighters were said to be just 120 miles from Moscow after Prigozhin had earlier vowed to “destroy anyone who stands in our way”.
Wagner boss turns his troops around – Russia mutiny latest
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In his message, Prigozhin said: “In 24 hours we reached within 200km of Moscow. Over that time we didn’t shed a single drop of our men’s blood.
“Now though the time has come when blood might be shed. Therefore, mindful of the responsibility that Russian blood might be shed by one of the parties, we are turning our columns round and moving off in the opposite direction, to the field camps, according to plan.”
After the armed mutiny was called off, the Kremlin said all criminal charges against Prigozhin would dropped and his Wagner Group fighters would not be prosecuted.
It also said the mercenary leader will move to Belarus – but it does not currently know his location.
“Avoiding bloodshed was more important than punishing people,” a Kremlin spokesperson said, adding that some of the Wagner fighters will be able to sign contracts with Russia’s defence ministry.
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The office of Alexander Lukashenko said the decision to halt further movement of Wagner fighters was brokered by the Belarusian president, with Putin’s approval, in return for guarantees for their safety.
The Kremlin said Lukashenko had offered to mediate because he had known the mercenary leader personally for around 20 years.
Chechen troops defend Moscow
Russia had enlisted 3,000 elite Chechen troops to be stationed in Moscow and placed machine guns on its borders, in preparation of private troops entering the capital.
Pro-Russian media reported 13 Russian soldiers were killed as part of the mutiny – but Sky News has not verified the claim.
Earlier, the Russian president accused the leader of the Wagner group of treason and leading an “armed mutiny”.
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Condemning the actions of one-time ally Prigozhin, who was leading a rebellion to oust Russia’s defence minister, Vladimir Putin branded the mercenary boss’s actions a “stab in the back” to the country’s soldiers and people.
But Prigozhin denied a betrayal and called his fighters “patriots”.
The convoy had earlier moved rapidly from Russia’s south and was thought to be around the Lipetsk region before the advance ended.
Earlier, Russian media showed groups of police manning machine gun positions at Moscow’s southern border.
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Prigozhin claimed he and his troops had reached Rostov-on-Don after crossing the Russian border from Ukraine and taken control of key sites, including the airfield.
The city is home to the Russian military headquarters that directs the invading forces in Ukraine.
The mercenary group was also said to have seized defence facilities in the city of Voronezh, around 310 miles south of Moscow.
The Russian army carried out “combat measures” in the Voronezh region “as part of the counter-terrorist operation”, according to its governor Alexander Gusev.
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Putin’s address
In a televised address earlier, Putin said: “It’s the equivalent to armed mutiny.
“Russia will defend itself and repel this move.
“We are fighting the life and security of our citizens.
“It’s an attempt to subvert us from inside.
“This is a stab in the back to our troops and the people of Russia.”
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He added: “The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us.
“This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility.
“Those who plotted and organised an armed rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades-in-arms, betrayed Russia. And they will answer for it.”
Moscow correspondent
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is now a problem entirely of the Kremlin’s making.
His business empire has grown and expanded over the past decade, attaining an ever more violent and dangerous character, from cooking to comms to trolls to mercenaries.
Prigozhin’s rhetoric over the past weeks against Russia’s top military brass has grown ever more virulent and dangerous, and yet he has been allowed to continue unchecked.
Perhaps President Vladimir Putin was lulled into a false sense of security because he was never name-checked directly himself. If so, that would appear to have been a terrible oversight.
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However, Prigozhin said: “Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland.”
He has had a long-running feud with the defence ministry in Moscow led by Sergei Shoigu, who he claimed had targeted his troops and ordered a rocket strike on Wagner’s camps in Ukraine – killing “a huge number of our comrades”.
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Read more:
Wagner mercenary boss was disaster waiting to happen for Putin
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
He said the assault happened after he branded the country’s military top brass “evil” and argued the Kremlin’s rationale for invading Ukraine last February was based on lies.
This has been denied by Moscow, which has described the allegations as “untrue and an informational provocation”.
The Wagner forces have played a crucial role in Russia’s war in Ukraine, succeeding in taking the city where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place, Bakhmut.
